Just the Way You Are
by MadameQuill
Summary: Natsu's sick of everyone's jibes about his hair, particularly those from Lucy. He decides to seek help from a friend who seemingly solves his problem. It turns out, however, that one problem only led to another...


**A/N: **I was visiting a friend and she inspired this one ^^ Willow and Berry McCabe are OC's; Willow was inspired by Rosalia from Trauma Team and Berry is just an older version of Willow. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did I would have swag.

**It Sucks Being a Pinkette**

"What?! Why should I?!" he exclaimed.

There were times when Natsu pretended he didn't know what the hell Lucy was talking about, but this time, he was seriously at a loss. Not to mention what she implied was slightly insulting.

"Because it's tacky," she replied, irritated at her teammate's outburst. "Plus, it's not even a 'guy' color."

Natsu uncrossed his arms and leaned in closely at her, his eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah? Well what constipates a—" he raised his hands, making air quotes, "_guy _color?"

Lucy's hand flew to her mouth as she attempted, and poorly, to stifle a laugh. The action caused her to drop the pen she had been writing with. Erza, who was sitting at the bar behind them, looked up from her cake. An amused smile graced her face, her dark eyes dancing with mirth. Gray spat out his cream soda over the request board a few strides away, engendering grimaces from others who were also looking for missions. A few guild members who were nearby chuckled along. Natsu glanced bewilderedly around at them.

"What's so funny?" he demanded, crossing his arms again.

Gray's choking guffaws subsided as he called over to the fire mage, "It's 'constitute,' not constipate, idiot."

Natsu blushed fiercely at his malapropism. "Aw, who the hell cares? It's not even that funny!"

"Are you kidding me? It's fucking hilarious," Gray said as he wiped and dabbed at the request board with a towel Mira had passed him.

"I think that was the best one yet," Lucy managed to say between giggles. "I'm gonna use that in my story."

Gray walked over to them, wiping his hands with the soiled towel. "Learn your words next time, flame brain. That woman's gonna end up writing an entire novel out of your stupidity."

"Well she'll write one twice as long about your exhibitionism!" Natsu retorted, gritting his teeth. "Where the hell are your clothes, anyway?"

Gray looked down at his bare torso. "_Shit!_"  
Lucy groaned. "Don't bring me into this! And don't put words on my paper!"

"Agh, that's not even the point of this conversation!" Natsu yelled exasperatedly. "Why should I change my hair color?!"

"I _said_ because it's tacky!" Lucy yelled back.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is _not!_"

"Will you brats _shut the hell up? _I can hear you over my headphones!" Laxus shouted from the S-class balcony above.

"You're not even that much older, Laxus. Pipe down," Erza muttered. The requip mage never liked their guild master's grandon much, and that distaste had been especially augmented after Laxus's attempted thunder tribe takeover stunt. She still held a minor grudge, even after his implicit apology. The blonde haired man huffed and turned away from the banister.

For once, Natsu completely ignored the older male's chide, his attention focused on Lucy. "Well what about Freed's hair? Or Levy's? Or Wendy's or Lyon's or Er—" he paused in the middle of Erza's name, feeling an ominous aura behind him. He decided to just stop at Lyon, having made his point.

Lucy cleared her throat. "For the record, blue's totally in this year. Even people who don't have naturally blue hair like Wendy or Levy are getting theirs dyed. Lyon's albino, so he can't help it. Even if he wasn't, it still doesn't look bad on him. Freed—well, I personally don't mind the year-round Christmas-y air he takes around with him."

They heard a "Hey! I said I'm not trying to look like Santa Claus!" from the mezzanine.

"And you mind _me?_" Natsu cried, throwing his hands in the air.

Lucy sighed. "I don't _mind _you, Natsu. I just think you should try a different look for a change. Who knows, you might like it."

"So you say," he muttered. "Where's Happy?"

Gray, who seemed to have finally found his shirt and pants, pointed at another table across the guild, where Happy was fervently (and unsuccessfully) trying to impress Charla with various aerial maneuvers. "There. Working on his virginity problem."

Natsu growled, rolling his eyes. "Dude, you're disgusting. He's like ten."

Gray shrugged. "It seemed like the appropriate thing to say."

"From a pervert like you? Maybe. Whatever. I'll just come back and get him later." Natsu turned and began walking towards the exit.

"Hey Natsu, where're you going?" Lucy called after him.

"None of your beeswax!" he tossed over his shoulder as he pushed the tall double doors open and disappeared outside.

"Just like a child," Lucy grumbled, scribbling something in her journal.

Erza moved over to her two teammates who were left and sat down at the table. She set down her plate of half-eaten strawberry cake. "I guess we're not going on a mission today, huh. You want to go shopping or something, Lucy? I want new armor." Though she had over 200 suits already, she'd had her eye on a templar knight armor for a few weeks now.

The celestial spirit mage snapped her journal shut after replacing her ribbon marker. "Yeah! We could go to Enchantment and get a spa treatment afterwards. They just established a new partnership with us, you know?. Fairy Tail mages get discounts if you show them your guild mark." She winked.

Gray scratched his head, not particularly interested in joining the excursion. "Welp, I'm gonna go home and chill. Don't tell Juvia I left."

"Okay!" Lucy said. "I don't know where she is, but if I see her and she asks, I'll just say you went on a short solo mission."

He nodded and began to leave. "Muchos gracias."

"GRAY!" Erza barked before he got to the exit. He froze his gait, the hair rising on the back of his neck. The ice mage prepared for the worst—perhaps the titania would make him carry her and Lucy's shopping bags again, only this time, he wouldn't have the idiot dragon slayer's help. However, Erza instead followed up with, "YOUR CLOTHES!"

"Shit!"

* * *

"Pretty please, Willowwww?" Natsu whined, clapping his hands together in front of him so he looked like he was praying to the Buddha.

The mint-haired girl scrunched her nose and stared incredulously at her rosy-haired friend. He'd come in through the window again. She didn't like the idea of him in her apartment; last time he came, almost half the complex got burnt down. How the heck did Lucy manage to deal with the idiot 24/7?

She shrugged, directing her attention back at the conversation. "I think your hair's fine the way it is, honestly!" And it wasn't a lie. Natsu's hair always had the perfect spike and bounce to it. She would know as a stylist. It _would _look better with some gel and maybe five minutes of styling each morning, but she was completely sure that Natsu wasn't one to have a morning ritual more complicated than just waking up.

Natsu continued giving her the puppy face, and Willow sighed. Really, she just wanted to have a peaceful weekend without a load of appointments. She gazed longingly at the book she had to put down ever since Natsu interrupted her morning, and turned back to him.

"Since when did you start caring about your looks anyway? That's so un-Natsu."

The dragon slayer straightened, somewhat offended like he was earlier from Lucy. "Why does everyone say that all the time?" he muttered, tugging his scarf. "I mean, my colors match and stuff…"

Willow rolled her eyes, her irises gleaming with speckles of pink and purple. _Says the guy who only has one outfit to 'match,' _she thought to herself_. _She lifted her mug off the coffee table and sipped her chamomile tea, breathing in the calming aroma. "Fine. What is it you want me to do with it?"

Natsu's eyes brightened. "Well, you're aspiring to be a mages' stylist, so you should be good at hair stuff right? Could you dye my hair?"

With that, Willow choked, and nearly spit out the contents in her mouth. She softly set the mug on the table, and slapped her hand down next to it, staring at the fire mage with utter disbelief.

"You want me to _what_?!" she exclaimed.

Natsu blinked, wondering why his friend had such a reaction. "Dye…my hair?" he said, the statement sounding more like a question.

Willow calmed herself again, settling back into her comfy couch. "If I just heard correctly, Natsu Dragneel, who never gave a flying hoot about his appearance, is asking me to dye his hair," she announced in a seemingly even tone.

The dragon slayer frowned, and said, "Back to that again? Well I do…I wash my clothes and take showers and brush my teeth…"

"That doesn't mean you're into fashion or anything. That just means you have the decency to keep up your hygiene and look semi-immaculate, like every level-headed person should," Willow sniffed. "Plus, it's not like you wear anything else besides _that_," she said, gesturing at his ensemble, not knowing how to name it. Open vest…bloomers…some weird sarong. It had its own style, but what was it? The Dragneel? The Natsu? Dragon Slayer Outfitters Pan-Seasonal Edition?

Now that she thought about it, Willow had no idea where he got his attire from. He probably had it specially made…she'd never seen anything like it in all the stores of Magnolia. _Maybe he makes his own?_ _Jeez, if he does, he could start his own line and brand,_ she said to herself. _The Devil Wears Dragneel…Coco before Natsu…Confessions of a Dragon Slayer…_she glanced at Natsu, who scratched his stomach and yawned. She mentally swatted away the ridiculous movie title splices. Not possible.

Natsu looked down at his clothes, blinking away his yawn-induced tears. "What? Does it not look good?"

"No! I mean…that's the only thing you ever wear. Have you tried anything else? Clothing-wise."

He frowned again. "Well, I'm always on the move…and these are just comfortable to move around and fight in. I'm not a dumbass stripper like Gray, so I'd rather just be comfortable in what I'm wearing."

Though the Fairy Tail guild members visited her often for their signature cuts, Willow didn't hang around often enough to hear about Natsu's daily shenanigans, except from Lucy. Like Natsu said, she was planning to be a mages' stylist, and to run the shop on her own someday when her mother passed it down to her. She had to work and study hard.

"Right…so why do you want to dye your hair?" Willow inquired, and added, "Believe it or not, that's a pretty big decision to make."

Natsu sighed, and Willow watched him with an eyebrow raised. What could bother the idiot enough to make him sigh like he actually thought about deeper topics than fire or food? Or both?

"Well," he began, and dove into that morning's happenings, telling Willow about the argument between him and Lucy.

"—So that's how it happened. I'm just sorta tired at everyone making comments about my hair, ya know? Mira says it's cute all the time and that just doesn't sound right and that pervy exhibitionist bastard makes fun of me and now even _Lucy _makes fun of me! She's telling me I'm girly!" He pouted.

"Aww, I'm pretty sure Lucy didn't mean it. She's just teasing you!" Willow replied in a lighthearted manner. "Besides, you're _far _from girly. Trust me."

Natsu continued to pout, grumbling about the jibes he received about his hair. "…it's not like I wanted it to be this color or anything! I was just born with pink hair!" he growled, slightly defeated.

Willow pondered for a moment, and then stood up. She flipped her mint-green hair, which had a couple of loose red ribbons tied in the strands before crossing her arms. "Alright. If I dye your hair, will you consider an entire revamp?"

The fire mage looked at her with deep eyes, as if conflicted over the offer. The stylist bit her lip and furrowed her brows, hoping that he would comply. Even though she desperately wanted the weekend off, she never passed up a chance to give someone a full-body makeover. It happened to be one of her hobbies.

After a while of staring, Natsu scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. "What's a revamp?"

Willow doubled over in exasperation.

"Nevermind. Let's get you down to the salon."

He eyed her with curiosity and bewilderment as she grabbed her purse and keys and dragged him out of the apartment.

* * *

Natsu glanced around at the salon. He always came here for the regular trim, but he was somewhat excited that he could finally rid himself of his bane of a hair color. _For a new day, for a new day, celebrate and say, A-A-A-A-y-y-e-e…_he sang inwardly as he swiveled in the salon chair. It was off-key, even in his head.

He waited happily for Willow to come back to his booth with her salonamajiggers, or so he called the paraphernalia that stylists used, and do her magic on him.

"Oh, what a nice surprise!" a voice exclaimed.

Natsu swiveled around, ignoring the weird looks he was getting from other customers and workers. He was glad there were no other Fairy Tail members there at the moment. The fire mage's expression brightened as a mid-aged but still young-looking woman approached him, her heels making clacking sounds on the floor.

She sported the same mint-green hair as Willow, which was tied up into a neat bun with a yellow ribbon. A salon apron with three cartoon whales and the words _'Whale, whale, whale what do we have here?' _printed on it hung over her floral dress. She held an empty dustpan and broom in her hand, smiling, and Natsu grinned back.

"Morning, Mrs. McCabe!"

She waved the dustpan in front of him. "Aw, this is old news, Na-kun. Call me Berry!"

He grinned again, sheepishly. "Sorry, Berry."

"It's alright!" she said, laughing. "It's just nice to see you here! You usually come about only once every three months."

"Ah, about that, mom…" Willow said, coming up behind them. She was now wearing an apron, a hair dryer in one hand and the other hand filled with the 'salonamajjigers': a ring of synthetic pieces of colored hair, a comb, and other things Natsu couldn't label and didn't own.

"Willow! I thought I said you could take this weekend off," Berry exclaimed.

Willow shrugged. "Well, I _was _reading and relaxing until this thing," she pointed at Natsu, "barged in and started yelling about dyeing his hair."

Her mother nodded with understanding. "I see…is Willow giving you a makeover? How sweet!"

"Yep!" Willow chirped.

Natsu laughed nervously. _But seriously, what is a makeover…_

As Berry's eyes grazed over the ring of colored hair samples that Willow held, she suddenly slapped for forehead. "Ah! That reminds me! I have an errand to run in Hargeon…I have to pick up that delivery of SpellBound." She whirled around, opening a closet and hanging her apron on a hook. She replaced the broom and dustpan, and retrieved her purse from the front desk.

Willow followed her and raised an eyebrow. "I thought that delivery came a week ago? Didn't you get it already?"

Her mother smiled timidly and rubbed her temple, her other hand clutching her purse. "Ah, is that so? I must've forgotten about it again…" she trailed off.

"Mother…" Willow said in a low voice.

"Ah, ha-ha! I don't think we've run out yet, so it's alright!" Berry chortled. "You take care of Na-kun, Willow! And you and your father go on and have dinner without me."

"Mother. Mom…"

Berry rambled on, ignoring Willow. "In fact, I'll stay the night at Alida-san's while I'm there. We haven't seen each other in a while..."

"Mother!"

"—bye! Love you!" Berry slammed the glass door shut, violently jingling the bells that hung on the knob.

"Wai-Mother!" Willow pulled open the door and shouted after her, but Berry had already disappeared in a cloud of dust in the busy street. She groaned. The salon would be her responsibility for the rest of the day. Yet again. Berry did this quite often; sometimes she would just up and go AWOL, leaving Willow to man the salon on her own. What annoyed her even more was that her dad would _always _take her mother's side, explaining that that's what he loved: her youthful personality. Gross.

"For the love of Mavis!" Willow exclaimed grumpily as she made her way back over to Natsu's booth.

Natsu looked curiously at her. She put her hands on her hips and looked him up and down, assessing what she should do first. _Hair. Yes, hair. The entire getup can wait for later. _She smiled evilly to herself.

"Well, shall we pick out your new hair color?" she asked, grabbing the color ring. She began holding various swatches of hair up next to his face so he could see how the colors went with his skin tone. He watched the array of colors pass by his visage for a while, having no clue what to choose.

"Uh, can you just do something simple? Maybe a little more natural, since I'm such a freak of nature," he said, laughing softly.

Willow hummed an "okay." The stylist thumbed through the colors and landed on ash brown. "Brown okay? It looks good with anything." Natsu nodded affirmatively.

She squatted down next to a cabinet and opened it. "Ugh, and well, what do you know, we're out of Ash Brown SpellBound," she grumbled.

"SpellBound? What's that?" Natsu asked.

Willow stood back up, straightening her apron. "Spellbound," she cleared her throat and explained, "is the dye product that we use for mages. It's stronger than regular hair dye and is applied via a specified spell that corresponds to the color the user chooses. It doesn't fade out unless the user wants it to, and it can only be undone by the converse spell, so it's important that you keep the directions on the box if you're applying it yourself unless you don't mind visiting a stylist. Of course, you won't have to worry about that." She headed for the opposite side of the salon.

"Wait, Willow, where are you going?"

"To the cellar," she called. "We probably still have some in stock down there. You mind waiting for a little bit?"

Natsu shook his head.

With that, Willow opened the door to the dimly lit cellar and made her way down the creaky stairs. When she got to the bottom she made a beeline for the area where her mother usually stored dye products and hair clay.

_Jeez…brown, brown, brown. Ash brown, _Willow repeated to herself as she rummaged through various cardboard boxes and shelves. The light shining down from the cellar door had added little to the hanging lightbulbs, though she had left it cracked open hoping that it could assist her vision. _And the lightbulbs need changing, too. Amazing. _Sometimes Willow wondered whether her mother shirked her duties because she wanted to teach Willow the sense of responsibility needed to run the salon, or if her mother was just plain lackadaisical. She settled for the former most of the time, but she was beginning to think it was a combination of both.

"Ah-hah! There you are." Willow smiled in victory. She reached out, grabbed the box with shiny purple, blue, and silver swirls on it off the shelf, and tucked it in her apron's pocket. She stared at the remaining boxes of SpellBound. _Might as well take them all up, in case any other cabinet stations need restocking. _She picked up an empty cardboard box and swept a row of the products off the shelf and into the box.

Willow turned to leave, but screamed when her eyes were met with another pair of gleaming onyx irises. She dropped the cardboard box, spilling half its contents.

Thanks for reading! :) Please review!


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